The Thunder Plains
by Little Ghost
Summary: GippalxRikku. Rikku is tricked into working for the Machine Faction. Will Rikku and Gippal kill eachother, or find themselves falling in love? Or both?
1. Thunder Plains

Yeah, I know, this chapter is short. Hopefully the next one will be a bit longer. This is my first fanfic, so it may not be very good... Oh well, hope you like it anyway.

Disclaimer: I do not own Square Enix or Final Fantasy.

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**Chapter One: The Thunder Plains**

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I'd like to say that when I woke up I felt the warm rays of the sun on my face, saw the blue sky above me with clouds randomly placed on its pure blueness. That I was somewhere nice, calm and peaceful, where everyday is full of warmth and sunshine.

I'd like to, but then I'd be lying.

The sky was a dark grey, mottled with dark blues and purples.Lightning was illuminating the otherwise pitch black sky, turning everything slightly more blue than it should have been. The rain beat down hard on the rocks andalready sodden earth, and the wind whipped past visciously.

I hate- and always will hate -the Thunder Plains. I find it unsettling that there is somewhere the sun barely ever shines. But, most of all, I hate the thunder. The sound of it makes me feel like the world is being ripped in half. I wasn't always this scared... But now...

"Rikku? You there?" I heard a worried voice call, and saw a tall woman with silver hair walk into the small cave I had taken shelter in. She seemed to spot me and jogged over to my side and crouched a few feet away from me,a relieved smile on her face. "I thought I'd lost you. Brother's having a panic attack."

"Sorry..." I managed to say. _Since when had speaking been so damn hard? _

"Well, at least you're safe now." she sighed, and loked as if she was about to get up, but stopped herself. "Can you walk?"

I nodded and forced myselft intoa sitting position, my face contorted in agony. Every muscle felt as if it was burning with pain. I didn't want to imagine what walking would be like. "Heh...Paine..."

She nodded and picked me up gently, carrying me to the huge red airship that I could hear outside. _It wasn't like Paine to be this nice..._ "Rikku since when did you get this heavy?" _Okay that's more like the Paine we all know and love._

I smiled slightly and looked at the Celsius as it came down to land,the familiar bad paintwork a welcoming sight. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later..."

--

"...And that's how you ended up so badly injured," she walked down the steps of the cabin and I heard her mention a few words to Brother, who Paine had forced to wait down there until she had finished informing me of the past day or so's events.

Apparently Paine and I had gone their to see Pops who had to see me about something. We were attacked by a huge fiend, one that managed to nearly kill me, and severely injure Paine. She made it back to the Celsius- only to find that I wasn't there- and had spent a whole day searching for me in the Thunder Plains. That's when she found me.

"Rikku? Oui ugyo? E raynt oui kud paydah ib bnaddo pytmo," **(You okay? I heard you got beaten up pretty badly)** Brother sighed, he was standing by the stairs, looking very worried.

"Yeah..." I managed, closing my eyes. "Why did Pops wanna see me?"

I heard him sigh and begin to make his way down the stairs. "It is not for me to say Rikku," then he paused and added. "Ra'mm pa rana cuuh ahuikr! Ycg res ouincamv." **(He'll be here soon enough! Ask him yourself.)**

I could hear the door to the cabin slide open, and then close again automaticaly. I was alone at last... Well except for Barkeep, but he didn't exactly count.

I wonder why Pops wants to see me... Probably one of his crazy plans involving Yunie. Even though she and Tidus were now married and living quite peacefully in Besaid, she was still getting swamped by media. But Yuna's always been good with the media... _Unlike me._

I let myself drift off into a deep sleep, as I was unbeleivably tired and even thinking hurt. _That must have been some strong fiend..._

_--_

"Rikku? You awake girl?"

"Hunh?" I mumbled,rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "Wha...?"

"It's me," I looked up at the person standing by the foot of my bed. Cid was standing there.

"Hi Pops..." I managed, frowning slightly. "What do you want?"

"Can't a father just come by and see his daughter?" he smiled innocently, Iglared at him. "Well, I could really use your help with the rebuilding of Home. Brother's going to help transporting parts and people with the airship and-."

"Fine," I mumbled, getting ready to go back to sleep.

"That's great news! I'll go tell the Machine Faction. They were looking for experienced workers to help 'em," he ran down the stairs to the exit, I heard the door slide open, and then close. _I was alone again... _

_...Machine Faction!_

"Wha!" I shouted after what he had said had registered. "You didn't say anything about the Machine Faction!"

Too late. We were already well on our way to Djose.

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	2. The Temple

Disclaimer: I no own Square Enix.

Sorry for the really late update! I've been seriously busy, and trying to find time to write has been hard. I'll try and update much sooner next time though!

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The Thunder Plains

Chapter Two

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After my encounter with Pops, I couldn't get to sleep. I just kept asking myself: _How did he trick me into working for the Machine Faction? Why did he trick me? ...Why don't I just go and tell him I refuse to work for the Machine Faction? _

I know, it may seem like I'm making something out of nothing, and loads of people would kill to be given a chance to work for the Faction, but if I go and work there _I_ would be working for the Faction, and in turn working for _him_. And I can't stand to be around him, let alone work for him!

"Rikku, we've arrived." Paine called from her seat in the bar.

I groaned and got out of bed, barely making an effort to tidy up my clothes and hair. I smiled at how easy and painless it was to move, and bounded down the stairs. "Wow! Those high potions are good! I can move again!" I shouted to no one in particular.

Paine merely nodded and made her way to the elevator, signalling for me to follow her. "Maybe you should change into something else Rikku. Maybe something less...revealing."

I giggled nervously and scratched my head. "Yeah, that would be a good idea..." Which dessphere would I use? I looked down at my crumpled thief dressphere. Maybe...

In a flash of light I was changed into my gunner dresspere. It was a little better than my thief, but it would have to do.

"You going to stand there all day?" Paine was already in the elevator. I grinned and walked into the elevator and stood along side her.

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It was cold outside the Celsius, making me even happier to not be in my thief dessphere. I looked down at the one I had chosen, my alchemist.

The clouds overhead threatened to rain down on me, and it wasn't helped by the fact that I was the only person standing out here. _Where in Yevon's name were the Faction members?_

I walked up to the temple doors and pushed them open, they were a lot heavier than I expected and I ended up making a kind of squealing sound when they suddenly opened and I went stumbling into the main room of the temple."Anybody home?" I called out to the seemingly deserted place.

...No answer.

"Great..." I sighed defeatedly, turning to the doors, about to return to the Celsius.

"What's great?" a familiar voice half laughed. It was _him_. I heard his footsteps draw nearer. "Cid's girl! Good to see you!"

"I have a name y'know," I turned to face him, giving him a death glare that made him wince.

"Yeah, I know," he smirked. "But I like Cid's girl better."

"Where are all the workers?" I asked, crossing my arms infront of my chest. "I didn't see any outside."

"Oh, didn't your dad tell you?" I stared blankly at him, indicating that the answer was a 'no'. "Okay... It's Sunday. The workers get a day off to rest and go see their families."

"Then why am I here?"

"Don't ask me. You're father was the one who wanted to bring you here early. Not me."

I sighed, yet again, and dropped my travel bag, which landed quite heavily with a loud 'thud'. "I didn't even want to come work here! I thought I'd be going to work on home!"

If that comment had hurt him, he didn't show it. We were silent for a minute or so before he spoke, changing the subject. "So, do you want me to show you to your room?"

"Sure."

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It turned out that my room was the one that used to belong to Gippal's second-in-command, and so it was quite big. There was a single bed on the far wall, a chest of drawers on the wall opposite, next to the door, and to my right there was a tastefully decorated en suite.

"You like?" he asked from by the doorway.

"Yeah. It's nice," I turned around to grin at him. "You're not so bad after all!"

He frowned. "What d'ya mean 'Not so bad after all'!"

"Well back when we were kids you were always teasing me, pushing me around, playing tricks on me..." I paused, feeling the embarasment and hurt that he had caused me come flooding back. Mygaze fell to the floor. "Why...?"

After a minute or so of staring at the floor, I looked up to where he had been standing, to find only empty space. _Why didn't he answer me...?_

_----_


End file.
